Weird question: Hummus

[mo2]

I've never eaten hummus but I see it mentioned in almost all the healthy-eating threads. (I was looking for healthy snack ideas.) Where do you buy hummus? How do you prepare/serve it? What does it taste like?

[DarcyB]

hummus is basically ground up chickpeas with tahini (ground sesame seeds) & spices :) It's some of the best stuff in the world. You can mix it very plainly or do it spiced up to the nines and use different ingredients. It doesn't taste like beans at all if you're not a fan of beans. Serve it with anything crunchy :) We like dipping carrots, pita chips, tortilla chips, rustic crackers, etc. But in a pinch, our finger will do :)

 

You can buy it in just about any grocery store - mostly in the refrigerated vegetable aisle, or in the deli section, depending on your store. In some stores, you can get an incredible variety (in fact, found a lemon hummus at Whole Foods a few weeks ago that my completely food phobic 7yo will eat!).

 

This is our go-to version:

Alton Brown's Turbo Hummus

2 to 3 cloves garlic

1 can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained and liquid reserved

2 to 3 tablespoons smooth peanut butter

A handful fresh parsley leaves

1 lemon, zested and juiced

Pinch freshly ground black pepper

Pinch kosher salt

1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Chop the garlic finely in a food processor. Add the beans and 1/2 of the reserved liquid and process finely or to desired consistency. Add the peanut butter, parsley, lemon zest and juice, black pepper, and salt. Process until it forms a paste. Drizzle in the olive oil and process until it reaches the consistency of mayonnaise.

 

Serve this with pita bread, pita chips, tortillas, tortilla chips, vegetables, and dare I say…fingers ! We even use it as spread for sandwiches.

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

Hummas is very simple to make. It's just chick peas, tahini (sesame paste, like peanut butter), olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice and red pepper flakes all blended together into a dip.

 

You can google and find many recipes for it.

 

Hummas is mild, tangy, firey...it just depends on how you spice it up. More lemon will make is tangy, more garlic and pepper will make it more spicy. Some have cumin and other strong spices in them.

 

I added artichoke hearts to my recipe and it was tangy and delicious. You can water your hummus down and use it as a salad dressing too.

 

We frequently serve it spread on tortillas with grilled veggies. YUM!

 

hth

K

(who never puts olive oil in her hummas, cause she's all Eat2Live)

[plain jane]

When we don't make our own we buy it at Costco. We use it mostly as a dip for vegetables.

[Crissy]

I know a lot of posters here make their own, but I've never been able to find tahini (sesame paste), so I buy pre-made hummus. My favorite brand is Meza (they're all a little different in taste and texture).

 

I use it as an alternative to ranch or onion dip for cut veggies.

[Parrothead]

If you really really despise the taste of tahini, you can make it yourself with something else like peanut or with nothing chickpeas and spices.

[PuddleJumper1]

Hubby loves hummus. We buy it at Whole Foods. They have it plain and with added stuff (tomatoes, peppers, garlic etc)

[HollyDay]

Hummus is ground chick peas. It is best made fresh, but Target and Winn Dixie carry a Sabra brand that is very good. It is served with chips, crackers, or pita bread and eaten as a dip. I also use it as a spread for veggie sandwiches. Our local pizza place makes a great pizza with an olive oil and hummus crust. My basic recipe:

 

1 can chick peas drained but reserve liquid

tahini to taste

olive oil for consistency

juice of 1 lemon

garlic to taste

salt to taste

 

Blend all in a blender. I've used a food processor, but it doesn't get the hummus as smooth as a blender. Use the reserved liquid to make the hummus the consistency you want it to be. You don't want it "drippy liquid" but you do want it smooth and easy for a piece of bread to dip into it.

 

I serve it on a plate or shallow bowl with a swirl of olive oil. Sometimes I top it with chopped tomatoes and fresh mint. Dh likes to top it with olives. Dd likes to dip carrots with hummus.

 

It is really easy to make, just play with it until it tastes the way you like it!

[kalanamak]

I know a lot of posters here make their own, but I've never been able to find tahini (sesame paste)

 

Your local Top Foods, Safeway, and Fred Meyers has it in a can (Near East brand), and a middle eastern/ Indian grocery not that far from you has jars and jars and jars of it.....:lol:. Also easily found at food co-ops and places like Whole Foods or Marlene's.

 

If you do break down and try to make it, hint: mix the tahini with the water and lemon juice first. If you process the beans and paste first, you get something rather like spackle. My "secret" is to dry toast a few cumin seeds in a heavy pan, and when brown, crush with the back of a spoon, and mix in. Another trick I like is to mince up the garlic and sprinkle with coarse salt. Crush this together with the flat of the chef's knife, dragging it across the little pile. I've been told it has something to do with pulling the garlic juice across the cell membrane via Le Chatelier's Principle, the newly salty exterior sucking it out, as it were.

 

Store-bought has a slight off taste to me. ??canned lemon juice??

[Crissy]

Your local Top Foods, Safeway, and Fred Meyers has it in a can (Near East brand), and a middle eastern/ Indian grocery not that far from you has jars and jars and jars of it.....:lol:. Also easily found at food co-ops and places like Whole Foods or Marlene's.

 

 

 

I must be looking in all the wrong aisles!

And there is an Indian grocery near me?! I was looking for jarred garam masala last week. I was wishing for one but didn't know where to start looking.

[Unicorn.]

Drain a can of chickpeas, reserve the juice. Run the chickpeas through the food processor or blender, adding a little of the drained water back in (you want it to be smooth and slightly less thick than bean dip) and about 1 TBS of olive oil. When smooth, add in a TBS or so of your favorite taco seasoning, and a bit of salt of needed. Easy, and deilicious!

[kalanamak]

I must be looking in all the wrong aisles!

And there is an Indian grocery near me?! I was looking for jarred garam masala last week. I was wishing for one but didn't know where to start looking.

 

You're tall. Maybe lower shelves?

 

Have you been to Par's Market? Great lavish.

Google Indian Market and those eastside towns in your area. Ditto

Middle Eastern Market and those town names. The tahini is cheaper there than at the supermarket. You can mix it with the ingredients for hummus without the chickpea and use it in dressing, dip and a sandwich spread. Of course there is babaganoush, which can be OUT of this world if you grill the eggplants over fire. It is like hummus, only you don't add water, and you use roasted eggplant rather than chickpeas. Big secret for this is after you grill/roast the eggplant until it is wilted to flatness, a la the Wicked Witch of the West, cut the big end open, stand it up, and let the acidic brown juices drain away.

 

I drag kiddo through ethnic markets as a form of cheap travel. :)

[Spy Car]

There are two kinds of hummus.

 

"Real" hummus, and a new (currently fashionable) flavored-dip concoction that is called hummus, but would make a traditionalist howl.

 

Real hummus is just ground chickpeas (preferably skinned), tahinah (ground sesame seed paste), lemon juice and salt. That's it. The great Arab cooks I know insist, no garlic. I concur.

 

The dip is usually spread thinly on a flat plate and doused with additional olive oil, and generally garnished with zaatar and perhaps sumac and maybe a few whole chich peas. The served with khubz (pita).

 

The kind now found in refrigerated sections is generally not traditional. Things like Sabra brand are flavored up with all sorts of things and I do not consider traditional hummus (which I greatly prefer), but a dip of a different sort. These are popular, but I refer traditional Arab style hummus.

 

Homemade is best, actualyl restaurant made can be best as they have specialized grinders which make the texture perfect, but if you are going to go convenience "Cortas" brand from Lebanon in cans is a good option for traditional hummus. It will still need garnishing with oil, and I find I prefer more lemon juice.

 

You can try both and see which you prefer. I would not be surprised to find myself in the minority on this one. Of course that would be the minority with good taste :D

 

Bill (calling it like he sees it :tongue_smilie:)

[Cera]

I know a lot of posters here make their own, but I've never been able to find tahini (sesame paste), so I buy pre-made hummus. My favorite brand is Meza (they're all a little different in taste and texture).

 

I use it as an alternative to ranch or onion dip for cut veggies.

 

 

Our local stores all keep it with the peanut butter. It took me 6 months to find it.

[AndyJoy]

I know a lot of posters here make their own, but I've never been able to find tahini (sesame paste), so I buy pre-made hummus. My favorite brand is Meza (they're all a little different in taste and texture).

 

I use it as an alternative to ranch or onion dip for cut veggies.

 

Do you have Albertsons? That is where I get mine. It is about knee height in the ethnic foods section at my store.

[Matryoshka]

Our local stores all keep it with the peanut butter. It took me 6 months to find it.

 

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Bill will howl, but our favorite here is the Roasted Garlic Hummus from TJ's. :D All our "regular" supermarkets carry hummus, too, a range of different brands, but it's always in the refregirated aisles, somewhere near the dairy.

[Spy Car]

The secret of great hummus, taught to me in my youth by Arab women of great vintage, is once the chick-peas are cooked (works for canned too, but a little trickier) drain them, put them in a big bowl in a sink. Fill bowl with water and leave water on a slight flow.

 

Then rub the chick-peas gently between open hands. This will release the skins, which will float up and over the sides of the bowl into the sink. De-skinning makes the texture of the hummus more luscious. Although it probably robs the body of need roughage. At least once (specially occasion maybe?) try de-skinned.

 

Bill

[kalanamak]

 

Real hummus is just ground chickpeas (preferably skinned), tahinah (ground sesame seed paste), lemon juice and salt. That's it. The great Arab cooks I know insist, no garlic. I concur.

 

)

 

And then there is a Greek version, which has so much garlic everyone knows you've had garlic for 2 days. I had one helping of it that made me feel I was being wormed.

[Spy Car]

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Bill will howl, but our favorite here is the Roasted Garlic Hummus from TJ's. :D All our "regular" supermarkets carry hummus, too, a range of different brands, but it's always in the refregirated aisles, somewhere near the dairy.

 

I know. I get queasy just thinking about it :D

 

Bill

[mo2]

\ Of course that would be the minority with good taste :D

 

Isn't that always the case? ;)

 

Thanks for all the responses and recipes/instructions. I think I will try both storebought and homemade, since it doesn't sound too difficult.

[helena]

There are two kinds of hummus.

 

"Real" hummus, and a new (currently fashionable) flavored-dip concoction that is called hummus, but would make a traditionalist howl.

 

Real hummus is just ground chickpeas (preferably skinned), tahinah (ground sesame seed paste), lemon juice and salt. That's it. The great Arab cooks I know insist, no garlic. I concur.

 

The dip is usually spread thinly on a flat plate and doused with additional olive oil, and generally garnished with zaatar and perhaps sumac and maybe a few whole chich peas. The served with khubz (pita).

 

The kind now found in refrigerated sections is generally not traditional. Things like Sabra brand are flavored up with all sorts of things and I do not consider traditional hummus (which I greatly prefer), but a dip of a different sort. These are popular, but I refer traditional Arab style hummus.

 

Homemade is best, actualyl restaurant made can be best as they have specialized grinders which make the texture perfect, but if you are going to go convenience "Cortas" brand from Lebanon in cans is a good option for traditional hummus. It will still need garnishing with oil, and I find I prefer more lemon juice.

 

You can try both and see which you prefer. I would not be surprised to find myself in the minority on this one. Of course that would be the minority with good taste :D

 

Bill (calling it like he sees it :tongue_smilie:)

:iagree:

I like it with a little olive oil and sumac, we eat it with Sangak bread. We are lucky to live near a market where they make them fresh to order.

[Spy Car]

And then there is a Greek version, which has so much garlic everyone knows you've had garlic for 2 days. I had one helping of it that made me feel I was being wormed.

 

Greek hummus is at least "real" hummus with garlic. The texture is the same.

 

But this other stuff. What has they done? Whipped air into the mix somehow to make it somewhat like a "mousse"? The "mouth-feel" is unrecognizable as hummus. It is a "dip".

 

Bill (traditionalist)

[AndyJoy]

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Cera and I were referring to the tahini to make your own, not prepared hummus.

[Spy Car]

:iagree:

I like it with a little olive oil and sumac, we eat it with Sangak bread. We are lucky to live near a market where they make them fresh to order.

 

Mmmm...Sangak bread is even better than pita. Fortunately we have a Persian market down the street that has good Sangak, but not hot out of the oven. Jealous.

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Look in the canned section in a Middle Eastern market, or even some supermarkets "International" section.

 

Bill

[Unicorn.]

Would it make you feel better if I promise to start callling it "chickpea dip", instead of hummus?

[Margo out of lurking]

How do you prepare/serve it? What does it taste like?

 

Usually homemade, but they had small tubs at Kroger for $1 (down from $3.29), so we stocked up. We usually eat it as a spread on healthy crackers. It's texture is much fluffier than peanut butter, but it's no where near as thick, sticky. What does it taste like? Hmm. Smashed garbanzo beans, only a hundred times better?

 

Your kids may appreciate that garbanzos look like little butts. We call them butt beans around here.

[Mrs Mungo]

All the hummus I have ever eaten in the middle east was TOO, TOO salty for me. So, I cut down the salt and add garlic to spice it up. I make mine as Bill describes, other than adding garlic. My kids refuse to eat the store-bought stuff.

Edited November 29, 2010 by Mrs Mungo

[kalanamak]

Would it make you feel better if I promise to start callling it "chickpea dip", instead of hummus?

 

I used to make a dal of black chick pea for company. One such gathering resulted in far too much giggling and tittering among "the men". Try garbanzo dip.

[mo2]

 

Your kids may appreciate that garbanzos look like little butts. We call them butt beans around here.

 

 

How do you know my kids so well? :D

[Spy Car]

Would it make you feel better if I promise to start callling it "chickpea dip", instead of hummus?

 

Actually? Yes :D

 

Bill

[KrissiK]

We love hummus. My 4 year old dd said, "I was made for hummus." We love it on pita chips! It's a good substitute for mayo on sandwiches. We buy it at Costco in the 2-pack. It freezes well.

[KrissiK]

There are two kinds of hummus.

 

"Real" hummus, and a new (currently fashionable) flavored-dip concoction that is called hummus, but would make a traditionalist howl.

 

Real hummus is just ground chickpeas (preferably skinned), tahinah (ground sesame seed paste), lemon juice and salt. That's it. The great Arab cooks I know insist, no garlic. I concur.

 

The dip is usually spread thinly on a flat plate and doused with additional olive oil, and generally garnished with zaatar and perhaps sumac and maybe a few whole chich peas. The served with khubz (pita).

 

The kind now found in refrigerated sections is generally not traditional. Things like Sabra brand are flavored up with all sorts of things and I do not consider traditional hummus (which I greatly prefer), but a dip of a different sort. These are popular, but I refer traditional Arab style hummus.

 

Homemade is best, actualyl restaurant made can be best as they have specialized grinders which make the texture perfect, but if you are going to go convenience "Cortas" brand from Lebanon in cans is a good option for traditional hummus. It will still need garnishing with oil, and I find I prefer more lemon juice.

 

You can try both and see which you prefer. I would not be surprised to find myself in the minority on this one. Of course that would be the minority with good taste :D

 

Bill (calling it like he sees it :tongue_smilie:)

Hmm. I like the not-so-real stuff, but then again... I feed my kids cheese out of can.

[helena]

Traders sells humus.

We tend to think of flavored humus in a similar way as flavored bagels. :001_smile:

I'll eat it, but shhhh!! Don't tell my NY Jewish friends! :D

I'm Mexican, I don't mind a little jalapeno in my bagel, or a little dollop on my humus (Traders).

:leaving:

 

ETA: The fluffy stuff is strange, only had it at random pot lucks.

Edited November 29, 2010 by helena

[Spy Car]

It's texture is much fluffier than peanut butter, but it's no where near as thick, sticky.

 

It's a good substitute for mayo on sandwiches. We buy it at Costco in the 2-pack. It freezes well.

 

OK, you know what kind of "hummus" these people are talking about :D

 

Real hummus, not fluffier than peanut butter. Real hummus, not a substitute for mayo. I'm starting to get majnoon! :lol:

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

Traders sells humus.

We tend to think of flavored humus in a similar way as flavored bagels. :001_smile:

I'll eat it, but shhhh!! Don't tell my NY Jewish friends! :D

I'm Mexican, I don't mind a little jalapeno in my bagel, or a little dollop on my humus (Traders).

:leaving:

 

Oh this is so wrong!!! :D

 

Bill

[Matryoshka]

Cera and I were referring to the tahini to make your own, not prepared hummus.

 

Ah, now that makes sense. :)

 

I was having horrible flashes of shelf-safe hummus...

[TravelingChris]

I am not sure what Bill and some others are buying in the store. Actually I don't know what I am buying either. Whatever the brand of hummus is, it isn't the texture of mousse or mayonnaise. It also is a fair representation of the hummus I have gotten at real Arabic restaurants (not DIsney world types). But then I am not buying the flavored kinds but just the plain type.

[Spy Car]

Ah, now that makes sense. :)

 

I was having horrible flashes of shelf-safe hummus...

 

Tahinah is shelf-safe until it is opened. Canned hummus is shelf-safe.

 

Bill

[Spy Car]

I am not sure what Bill and some others are buying in the store. Actually I don't know what I am buying either. Whatever the brand of hummus is, it isn't the texture of mousse or mayonnaise. It also is a fair representation of the hummus I have gotten at real Arabic restaurants (not DIsney world types). But then I am not buying the flavored kinds but just the plain type.

 

There are a number of variants now available in tubs in the refridgerated sections of markets. Sabra is one such brand. They "fluff" the texture of these somehow (beating in air) so it is light, not as light as mayonnaise, but in that general direction.

 

Traditional hummus has a much more dense texture.

 

Bill

[holdoll]

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Bill will howl, but our favorite here is the Roasted Garlic Hummus from TJ's. :D All our "regular" supermarkets carry hummus, too, a range of different brands, but it's always in the refregirated aisles, somewhere near the dairy.

 

:iagree:

 

If I didn't make my own, I would prefer Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic.

[Matryoshka]

Tahinah is shelf-safe until it is opened. Canned hummus is shelf-safe.

 

 

I always buy tahini in jars, and I know canned anything is shelf-safe, but "canned hummus" is even more wrong than hummus with garlic. :tongue_smilie: I'm just sayin'....

[Spy Car]

I always buy tahini in jars, and I know canned anything is shelf-safe, but "canned hummus" is even more wrong than hummus with garlic. :tongue_smilie: I'm just sayin'....

 

No. Canned hummus from Lebanon (with just a little doctoring, which they suggest) is pretty good. It is traditional hummus. You could even add garlic if you insist.

 

Bill

[Cera]

:confused: I've never seen hummus that wasn't refrigerated??

 

Bill will howl, but our favorite here is the Roasted Garlic Hummus from TJ's. :D All our "regular" supermarkets carry hummus, too, a range of different brands, but it's always in the refregirated aisles, somewhere near the dairy.

 

 

Not the hummus, the tahini. I prefer to make my own hummus (actually let the kids do it, they will eat it if they make it).

[pqr]

Good in almost any form, though I grant to varying degrees.

[secular_mom]

My friends make hummus without the tahini, and I really do prefer it without tahini now.

[lisabelle]

I love Trader Joe's Eggplant Hummus...though I've always wondered, if it's eggplant, isn't it baba ganoush? I highly recommend it, even though I don't particularly care for eggplant.

 

Otherwise, I really like Sabra brand. Hummus can be found, at my grocery story, in the deli cases with cheeses and deli meats--not the deli case where you're served, but the help-yourself cases. Sabra tends to run expensive compared to the other brands my store carries, so I buy it when it's on sale or when they have it at Costco.

[mo2]

I'm sure this will upset SpyCar, but I think I will try the storebought version this weekend if I can find it.

 

I had no idea this could turn into a 5-page thread!

[Kim in Appalachia]

I know a lot of posters here make their own, but I've never been able to find tahini (sesame paste), so I buy pre-made hummus. My favorite brand is Meza (they're all a little different in taste and texture).

 

I use it as an alternative to ranch or onion dip for cut veggies.

 

We could never find tahini either. My dh and I read somewhere that you could substitute sesame oil, so we tried it and it works well. We use a little over a teaspoon for our recipe. We played with the amount till we got it how we liked it.

[kalanamak]

I

 

I had no idea this could turn into a 5-page thread!

 

'Rounds here, lady, we are serious about our hummus.